[Column] Music changes depending on food and ideology—Cultural history built by vegans and straight edges
Column en StraightEdge Vegan Vegetarian![[Column] Music changes depending on food and ideology—Cultural history built by vegans and straight edges](/../assets/images/column-vegan-straight-edge-music.webp)
Music changes depending on food and ideology - the cultural history built by vegans and straight edges
文：mmr｜テーマ：ビーガンやベジタリアン、ストレートエッジを掲げるアーティストたちの思想が、どのように音楽文化と社会意識を変えてきたのかを、ハードコアからノイズ／前衛音楽まで横断的に辿る
Introduction
Music is not just about sound.
Lifestyle, body, and choices are always intertwined.
What to eat, what to refuse, what to believe.
The accumulation of such everyday life forms the texture and message of music.
Particularly in punk, hardcore, and surrounding cultures, the lifestyle itself has been treated as part of the music.
Typical examples are straight edge and veganism.
Although these two have different origins, they eventually intersected and formed a unique ethical system within musical culture.
Tracing the history of music, we see not only changes in sound, but also changes in people’s values and ways of living.
本稿では、ストレートエッジの誕生からヴィーガン・ハードコアの形成、さらにはノイズや前衛音楽にまで視野を広げながら、音楽と倫理の関係を探っていく。
音楽は思想を運ぶ器であり、その思想は生活の細部から生まれる
ストレートエッジ誕生前夜の社会背景
1970s American youth culture
In the late 1970s in America, rock and punk were at the center of youth culture.
At the same time, drugs and alcohol were widely accepted as symbols of rock stardom.
ジミ・ヘンドリックスやジャニス・ジョプリン、ジム・モリソンなど、多くの象徴的ミュージシャンが薬物や過剰な生活によって短い生涯を終えていた。
Freedom was often associated with self-destruction.
However, some young people began to appear who were uncomfortable with this trend.
「反抗すること」と「自分を壊すこと」は本当に同じなのだろうか。
この疑問が後のストレートエッジ思想へとつながっていく。
ハードコア・パンクの登場
From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, punk evolved into more extreme forms.
It’s hardcore punk.
Distinct scenes formed in Washington, D.C., Boston, New York, the West Coast, and elsewhere, and the music became faster, shorter, and more aggressive.
However, inside it, a movement other than a mere destructive impulse was also occurring.
Self-control, discipline, and an orientation toward clean living.
Paradoxically, a culture of self-discipline began to emerge from the music of rebellion.
Minor Threat and the Birth of Straight Edge
A movement created by one song
In 1981, Washington D.C. hardcore band Minor Threat released “Straight Edge.”
This song was a short one, lasting only a few dozen seconds.
But the impact is immeasurable.
The lyrics were a personal declaration that I didn’t need alcohol or drugs.
They themselves did not intend to create a new movement.
However, young people found a new sense of value there.
Unintentional cultural expansion
The term “straight edge” spread through live houses, fanzines, and cassette tape culture.
Straight Edge was not a political party or a religion.
It was not a theory created by someone, but a culture that grew from the empathy of young people.
ストレートエッジは設計された思想ではなく、共鳴によって拡張された文化だった
ハードコアシーンでのストレートエッジの変質
Xシンボルの誕生
The symbol “X” symbolizes straight edge culture.
ライブハウスでは未成年者が酒を注文できないよう、手の甲にX印を書かれていた。
Eventually, young people accept it as a matter of pride.
拒否の印がアイデンティティへ変化したのである。
Youth of Todayの役割
In the late 1980s, Youth of Today further developed straight edge ideas.
Rather than simply abstaining from alcohol and drugs, the focus is now on keeping the body and mind in good condition.
And this is where the connection with animal welfare and vegetarianism was born.
From band to community
Straight edge has become less of a music genre and more of a lifestyle.
It was both a philosophy of self-control and a critique of society.
ストレートエッジは音楽ジャンルを超え、生活倫理として再定義された
Earth Crisisとヴィーガン・ストレートエッジ
1990年代の転換点
1990年代、Earth Crisisが登場する。
They strongly advocated veganism, animal liberation, and environmental protection.
音楽と行動主義の融合
Earth Crisisの特徴は、音楽と行動が完全に一致していたことだった。
歌詞は単なる感情表現ではなく具体的な行動指針だった。
Even eating habits and consumption behavior were talked about as part of music culture.
Establishment of Vegan Straight Edge
During this period, straight edge moves to a new stage.
禁酒・禁薬に加え、完全菜食主義が重要な要素となった。
Hardcore has become both music and a place for ethical practice.
Musical historical background of vegetarianism
Veganism and vegetarianism didn’t start out as hardcore.
その源流には1960年代のカウンターカルチャーがある。
東洋思想、環境運動、自然回帰思想は多くのミュージシャンへ影響を与えた。
The idea of harmony between body and mind also permeated musical culture.
Food choices have shifted from being a personal issue to a cultural message.
Paul McCartney and animal welfare
One of the most famous vegetarians in the world of pop music is Paul McCartney.
He has been advocating for animal welfare for many years.
Their activities have had an impact not only on music fans but also on society in general.
This is a prime example of how music and ethical messages are naturally linked.
Morrissey and the politics of food
Morrissey is also known as an animal rights activist.
彼は音楽を通じて食肉産業や動物利用への批判を表現してきた。
His statements were often controversial.
しかしその論争自体が、音楽と倫理の関係を可視化することになった。
Music can be a device for social dialogue
Billie Eilish and the values of today’s generation
In the 21st century, veganism has become a popular part of youth culture.
Billie Eilishはその象徴的存在である。
In the age of social media, artists’ lives themselves are becoming visible.
Ethical choices became part of the expression rather than external to the work.
Thoughts that cross genres
Veganism and straight edge have spread beyond hardcore.
Metal, hip hop, pop, electronic music.
Even though the genres are different, they now share a common awareness of issues related to the body and ethics.
かつてサブカルチャーだった思想は一般文化へ浸透していった。
日本のノイズ音楽と身体性
Let’s now shift our perspective to Japan.
In Japanese avant-garde music, there are performers who have continued to question the body and ethics in a way different from straight edge or veganism.
Merzbow and sound as non-consumption
Merzbowこと秋田昌美は世界的なノイズミュージックの象徴である。
He has long expressed support for animal rights and veganism.
しかし彼の重要性はそれだけではない。
The music rejects hedonistic consumption.
飽和したノイズは聴く者に負荷を与え、音楽を単なる娯楽から切り離す。
消費できない音そのものが倫理になる
Just as straight edge rejected alcohol and drugs, you could say that Merzbow rejected the comfort of consuming music.
灰野敬二と身体の極限
Keiji Haino is a representative of Japanese avant-garde music.
彼の即興演奏には明確な政治的スローガンは存在しない。
しかし演奏そのものが身体の限界を探る行為となっている。
Voices, silence, noise.
They exist in a realm beyond meaning.
A practice that asks how far the body can become sound
Keiji Haino presented a third physicality that is neither abstinence nor pleasure.
Western noise and industrial
Throbbing Gristle founded industrial music in England in the late 1970s.
They expressed the violence and controlled society of society through sound.
Noise was not entertainment but a tool for social criticism.
This trend later developed into industrial, noise, and power electronics.
パワーエレクトロニクスと露出の倫理
If straight edge is an ““ethics of refusal,” power electronics can be said to be an ““ethics of exposure.”
We intentionally present the unpleasant aspects of society without hiding them.
Music is not a source of pleasure, but a device for confronting reality.
Relationship between music, ethics, and the body
年表
| 年代 | 出来事 |
|---|---|
| 1960年代 | カウンターカルチャーと菜食主義の拡大 |
| 1970年代 | パンクとハードコア誕生 |
| 1981 | Minor Threat “Straight Edge” announced |
| Late 1980s | Thought expansion by Youth of Today |
| 1990s | Earth Crisis clarifies vegan ideology |
| 1990s | Establishment of vegan straight edge |
| Since the 1990s | Merzbow leads the global noise scene |
| 2000s | Strengthening the connection between animal welfare and music culture |
| 2010s | Accelerating sharing of values through SNS |
| 2020s | Popularization of veganism |
Conclusion
Straight edge and veganism aren’t just fringe cultures around music.
それらは音楽と生活を結びつける実践だった。
On the other hand, avant-garde musicians such as Merzbow and Keiji Haino proposed a different form of ethics by questioning the body itself.
The former asks, ““How should we live?’’
The latter asks, “How does one exist?”
However, there are underlying similarities between the two.
This is his attitude of not separating his way of life from his music.
音楽は音だけではない。
そこには身体があり、生活があり、思想がある。
そしてその積み重ねが文化になる。
The history of music is not only the history of sound, but also the history of way of life.
YouTube Podcast
*This podcast is in English, but you can watch it with automatic subtitles and translation.
